Final answer:
Red blood cells deliver oxygen through hemoglobin, a protein that binds oxygen. These cells are anucleated, which allows more hemoglobin per cell and prevents oxygen use for the cell's own metabolism, ensuring efficient oxygen transport to body tissues.
Step-by-step explanation:
The structure of red blood cells is incredibly specialized to deliver oxygen to the cells of the body. The key component in red blood cells responsible for oxygen transport is hemoglobin, a metalloprotein that contains iron. Hemoglobin binds oxygen molecules to the red blood cells. Each molecule of hemoglobin can carry four molecules of oxygen, making the transportation of oxygen highly efficient. Mammalian red blood cells, which are anucleated (lacking a nucleus at maturity), have more interior space to store hemoglobin. The absence of mitochondria in red blood cells also ensures that the oxygen carried is not used for the cell's own metabolic processes. Instead, these cells metabolize anaerobically to produce ATP, thereby preventing the use of transported oxygen and increasing the efficiency of its delivery to body tissues.
Therefore, the correct answer to how the structure of red blood cells allows them to deliver oxygen to the body's cells is: a) Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, which binds and transports oxygen.Red blood cells use their structure to deliver oxygen to the cells of the body. This is achieved because red blood cells contain hemoglobin, a protein that binds and transports oxygen. Each red blood cell can carry up to one billion molecules of oxygen, allowing them to deliver oxygen to tissues throughout the body.